As I have evolved on my health journey from a junk food lover in my teens, to an “I’m too busy to eat” professional, to sadly an “I’m sick, I need to change” grown-up, I have gone through a lot of stages with my health and I am proud of where I am today. It is not 100% perfect all the time, but who is! I have slip ups or choose the wrong option sometimes, its normal when we are growing in this space.

The most important part in becoming healthy is consistency.

You do have to change your lifestyle to become healthy, and once you are on that journey you need to maintain those good habits in order to keep your health balanced. If getting healthy is high on your priority list this summer then take note of the following 7 mistakes most people make when trying to become healthy, I know this because I have lived and breathed it!

Hydration. Yes I know everyone talks about this, but they do it for a reason. Drinking plenty of water, pure still water, is super important when getting healthy. Our bodies are made up of roughly 70% water and we need to make sure we are replacing that with fresh supplies every day. Tip: Fill up a bottle or container with 1 litre of water first thing in the morning and aim to drink this completely by 1pm then refill after lunch and drink the second litre by bedtime.

Ingredients list. Answer this question honestly, when was the last time you checked the ingredients list before you bought something? My guess is not very often. We need to be vigilant in this space - check every ingredient. If you don’t know what some of the ingredients are educate yourself. Chances are it is not something you want to be consuming, and may be a harmful chemical. For example: women on average put around 168 chemicals on their body every day due to their skin routines… until I started checking the ingredients list in everything I had no idea. Tip: Go through the items you regularly purchase and check the ingredients list, do you know what you are consuming? Can you make a better purchase?

“Diet” or “Sugar-free” options. This is another no no. It feels like an age ago but I used to be obsessed with diet coke back in my late teens/ early twenties – I used to genuinely love the taste of the diet version, I also used to think I was making a healthier selection. The chances are these “diet” or “sugar-free” options are no better than the original and contain just as many harmful chemicals and sugar alternatives. The best thing to do is cut these out of your life altogether. Tip: Opt for natural wholefood treats, juices, smoothies or water.

Sugar. We all have the sugar blues and it’s quite depressing to watch. We are completely and utterly addicted to this man-made white stuff, it’s no wonder since sugar is 10x more addictive than cocaine! Please let me be clear I am only referring to refined sugar, fruit is healthy and I would never dream of cutting this out of my diet, since it is a whole food with vitamins and minerals that the body requires. The reason refined sugar is bad is because to “refine “means to make "pure" by a process of extraction or separation. Sugars are refined by taking a natural food, which contains a high percentage of sugar, and then removing all elements of that food until only the sugar remains. This is a highly addictive substance and it is killing us slowly but surely. It has been linked to a host of different diseases including the biggies such as cancer and diabetes. Tip: Firstly educate yourself, I personally recommend Sugar Blues. Secondly, there is no easy way to detox from sugar but it is a really is a must for perfect health.

Dairy. We have always been taught to drink our milk to grow strong and healthy bones, etc. I am about to tell you otherwise. While cow's milk always contains saturated fat, this ‘bad’ fat is completely unnecessary for humans. Many of today’s health issues can be attributed to cow’s milk such as acne, cancer and diabetes, with 1 in 5 people believing they are dairy intolerant. When I shifted to a plant-based diet I also discovered that cow's milk can legally contain up to 400 million pus cells per litre. So one teaspoonful of milk can have two million pus cells! Gross or what! Tip: There are so many dairy alternatives on the market now, my personal favourites are almond and oat. Make a small change by switching to a dairy-free alternative, I guarantee your body will thank you for it. Also read up on whitelies.org or notmilk.com to find out the truth about dairy.

Too much protein. Apparently protein is in… but do we really know how much protein we need to be healthy. Once I became vegan this was a question hot on everyone’s lips, where do you get your protein? The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that the average American is consuming twice as much protein as we really need! For most healthy individuals, it’s recommended that 10-15 percent of our daily calories come from protein (about 56 grams for men and 46 for women). There are so many ways we can get our protein through grains, legumes and vegetables - all part of a plant-based diet. While meat is thought of as the go to place to get our protein, animal foods that are high in protein are often high in saturated fat. Tip: Keep a nutrition diary and check how much protein you need vs what you are eating you may be surprised to find you are over consuming!

Skip meals. One of my bad habits from the past… I can’t believe how I used to dishonour my body by not providing it the nutrients it so desperately needed. I genuinely used to miss lunch or dinner, or both. At the time I thought it was good, since everyone in the world is applauded for being thin I saw it as a positive if I didn’t eat. In fact you are doing the opposite, unless you are doing an intermittent fast or water fast and you understand the risks and benefits and are truly acknowledging your body, skipping meals is not a good idea. In order to maintain good levels of energy and regulate our internal body clock we should be eating regularly. Otherwise we can end up feeling depleted, irritable and our immune system suffers through the lack of nutrients and minerals. If we skip meals it’s also more common that we will make bad choices when we do eat, such as opting for a chocolate bar or crisps once that burning hunger strikes. Tip: Aim to eat 3 meals a day, if you have a very busy schedule use Sundays as a meal prep day to make packed lunches so you don’t forget to eat and prepare evening meals for the week ahead so you have all the ingredients once you get home from work and can cook dinner quickly.

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​Thank you for reading.

With love & gratitude,

​Fabienne

*Note: The information provided above is based on my own personal experiences. The information presented is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for consulting with a professional health care adviser. ​